Ezekiel 12 explained: Acting Out the Coming Exile

Packing for exile (vv. 1-7)

Ezekiel, already living among people taken captive to Babylon, acts out a refugee's flight in front of them: bags out by day, a hole dug through a wall at dusk, face covered. Many of them hoped Jerusalem would hold out and they would soon go home, so he shows them what is really coming.

The king's escape foretold (vv. 8-14)

The 'prince' is Zedekiah, Judah's last king, who did later flee Jerusalem by night, was caught, blinded and taken to Babylon, where he died. That is why he would be brought there but 'not see it,' while his guards and soldiers were scattered or killed.

A few survivors (vv. 15-16)

The people would be scattered among other nations. A few would live through war, hunger and disease, and in those foreign lands they would own up to the wrongs the text says brought this on.

Eating and drinking in fear (vv. 17-20)

Ezekiel trembles as he eats and drinks, picturing life in Jerusalem under the coming siege. The exiles may have envied those still at home, but the text says the land would be emptied because of the violence done there.

A saying put to rest (vv. 21-25)

People had a saying that warnings never come true, since years kept passing and other prophets kept promising safety. God answers that the waiting is over and the comforting false messages will stop.

Not someday, but soon (vv. 26-28)

Others did not deny the warning but pushed it far into the future, as if it would not touch their own lives. The reply is that nothing will be put off any longer.

Key verse: Ezekiel 12:11

Something to think about

When a warning has been repeated for years without coming true, how do you decide whether to keep taking it seriously?